Basic qualifications keep guns out of the wrong hands. The first three requirements ensure that groups of people including teenagers, who commit nearly four times as many gun homicides as adults 21 and over, are not permitted to carry concealed guns in public.

Mandatory live fire training helps ensure safe handling of firearms. Only 24 states and the District of Columbia include mandatory range time as part of their permitting process, but research shows that this training is necessary for the safe handling of a firearm.

A 2015 study from Mount St. Mary’s University compares reactions of gun-trained individuals to those who have had no training. “Those participants with less training and experience lack a realistic sense of what can and should be done in these stressful scenarios,” the authors wrote. “For citizens to realistically defend themselves they must have a high skill level. To attain that level requires extensive training in the classroom, on the firing range, and with real-life scenarios.”

“You get a person who’s unfamiliar and put a live weapon in their hand and expect them to be both competent and safe, you’re asking a lot of that person.” –Kelly Venden, owner of Criterion Tactical, a firearms training center in San Antonio

The vast majority of the public supports the current permitting systems that are on the books.

76% of gun owners think permit laws should remain in place

83% of Democratic gun owners, 73% of independents, and 72% of Republican owners all think that current concealed carry permit requirements should stay on the books

Even NRA members support the permitting process; 69% of members think permits should continue to be required